Contra III: The Alien Wars drops Bill and Lance into a future Earth overrun by the Red Falcon alien forces, with cities burning and military defenses crumbling. The SNES entry pushes the hardware across run-and-gun stages, forced-scrolling overhead levels where you commandeer tanks and motorcycles, and enormous boss encounters that fill the screen. Two-player co-op stays intact from the arcade predecessor. The game wastes no time: from the first moment to the final boss, the action is constant and the pattern demands fast reactions over exploration.